The Shutdown You Missed While Watching the Stephen Curry Show

What everyone will talk about off the Warriors comeback win over Dallas is the brilliance of Stephen Curry. And rightfully so, as Curry’s 51 points gave Oracle Arena another pyro spectacular.

Two weeks after Klay Thompson went bananas against Sacramento, Curry

knocked down 10 3-pointers — six during a 26-point third quarter — overwhelming Dallas and the senses of an adoring crowd. It was the most points he scored since dropping 54 on the New York Knicks in February 2013.

But what went unnoticed was that two stars played Wednesday night. The other one, Hall of Fame bound Dirk Nowitzki, had his fireworks smothered by Draymond Green.

The Warriors’ third-year forward finished with two points on 1 of 6 shooting. But while Curry was lighting up Oracle, Green was quietly putting out fires. He took away the biggest weapon from one of the second-highest scoring offenses in the league, and Dallas simply couldn’t match the Warriors.

Nowitzki finished with 15 points. But he took 15 shots, missing 11. He managed eight points after halftime, six coming from the free throw line as he went 1 of 9 from the field.

Nowitzki — who came into the game averaging 18.3 points on 47 percent shooting — hit the Warriors for 23 on 11 for 20 shooting last game. But he found a unique hurdle in Green, especially after the Warriors got away from scattered double teams.

Green did a marvelous job of crowding and contesting Nowitzki.

When Nowitzki went to the turnaround, Green pressed up on him like a thirsty ol’ man in the club, crowding him and making his patented fall-away jumper a bit tougher. Nowitzki tried to go up-and-under a couple of times, but Green never left his feet and was able to stay with him.

The reason Green could do that is because his long arms could still contest Nowitzki’s third-floor shot without jumping.

Green, despite being 6-foot-7, is really good at blocking shots at the rim. He knows how to smother with his body, absorb contact, and still reach high enough and time it well enough to deflect the shot.

Pump fakes don’t work because he’s not trying to jump high to swat it. He instead stops scorers from jumping high with his smothering. He blocked Nowitzki twice in the fourth quarter and made all of his post-ups feel like the all-time great was trying to break out of a straight jacket.

“I’m not going to say it’s easy,” Green said. “Dirk is what 36, 37 years old? Still tough to guard. Just really try to take away his space, crowd his space, and contest the shot.”

Often, when he made a move to get away from Green, the Warriors had a guard dig down for added pressure, steering Nowitzki back to the defense he was trying to get away from.

Even when the Mavericks would run a pick for Nowitzki so he could get matched up against Thompson, or when Dallas found itself in transition and Nowitzki for an open look, Green would soon come flying in to contest,

The Mavericks star never got consecutive good looks because Green made it his mission to stay in Nowitzki’s face. Out of sheer hustle and will, Green was able to irritate and frustrate Dallas’ best weapon.